Senior Seminar

Cassidy Keane

Essay #1

What is your vocational Calling?

1st Thessalonians 4:3 writes it is God's will that you be sanctified. I've recently begun to

understand the call of sanctity, therefore my calling must be bringing me into a deeper

understanding of who Jesus is so I may walk in His way that revokes a life of sin. Additionally

I'd like to believe from experience that your life writes what you are called to and for. So the

direction I’ll take into answering the vocational calling will be in an effort to recount some

experiences in my life and demonstrate how I believe my passions were developed in these

experiences and how my life was transformed by the Holy Spirit through these experiences.

I've been a very extroverted and social girl from birth which has shown me that deep

within I have passion for people. I am sure that wherever I am called, is primarily people related.

I feel most alive in social settings and most in interpersonal relations where I can sit and talk

with people about how they are truly doing and flesh out our deep issues with them. My love for

people is surely rooted in God's love for his children and the more I grow to understand the

Character of my creator the more close knit and interested I am in having these very intimate and

in depth conversations with others. A meaningful life consists of a life in close emotional and

spiritual proximity to the people around me. Again, living around people is not enough for me,

but to live closely with others is what energizes me and gives me a sense of purpose. God uses

relationships to sanctify me.

 So essentially I am a communicator, born to communicate with others but also called to

demonstrate a kind of loyalty to people who feel as if their relationships are broken and not

trustworthy. I've recently recognized that I am very much fulfilled standing with someone

alongside hardship, interceding for them and with them. Because God has been so intimately

involved in my life, being the supernatural provider He is, has allowed me the opportunity to

have a first hand account of God's closeness and steadfastness which in of itself has transformed

my approach to relationships. To sum this up I'd say I am called to be close and loyal to those

around me.

Someone said recently to me that they don't seek to secure jobs, company security or

even geographical location, they seek to pour into relationships that surround their jobs and

companies. I honestly resonated with that because I do believe I am so invested in the relational

aspect of my life that to centre my life around a mere career or job would not fulfill me. Again,

this would reinforce the relational side of myself. I do however believe that God is more

interested in how we steward what we have rather than make opportunities to seek out what we

feel called to. For example, it is crucial that I invest in whichever community I see it most

important to honor the Lord as best as I can, and to seek to serve my neighbours well.

I'd say that imprinted in my DNA is an intricate passion for worshiping through music.

Many christians say they just connect with God through worship but for me, that very

overutilized phrase is very much real. But I’d add that my song is my native language to God and

it is through worship experiences that I've experienced God's supernatural work in my heart and

in my life. It was a song that sank deep into my spirit and churned a conviction. Call to surrender

my life to Christ. It was through song that in my darkest and desperate moment that I've felt the

undoubtable presence of the holy spirit as the present comforter and it was through a song that
God became my healer. I say all this to say that I do believe that with my such intimate

connection to music, that I must be “called” to worship God, through song. I could surely see

myself maximizing this gift in the context of worship ministry in a Church.

No matter what I choose to enter into, I think my greatest duty is to give room for God to

download His specific will to me, which I believe He does by opening doors that need to be

opened and closing doors that are not for us to enter into. Additionally I believe it is imperative

that in order to live uprightly, we must seek sanctification, through writing scripture on our

hearts and putting it into action. To truly live a life pleasing to God and I hope to do is to

combine the voice of the Holy spirit and how scripture tells me to live.

Senior Seminar

Essay #2

Cassidy Keane
 Before I came to Wheaton College, I interpreted the Christian Liberal Arts as a program

that was fit for one who was not yet sure of which occupation they would enhance their expertise

in. This “unsure” individual was me and as a result I was certain Wheaton would be the perfect

fit. Most importantly I would graduate knowing what I was created for. The irony is I am

currently a senior with three weeks left before I exit this program and I still do not know what

my occupation will be. However, I am surely walking out with an eternal perspective that far

surpasses the earth's model of success.

Stephen Franklin writes about the disciplines governing the Liberal Arts. His exploration

of the unique application of the Liberal arts is that we can be sure that integrating faith and

learning is not in contrast to one another, instead it is incredibly necessary.

“Yet faith is never totally without knowledge, and we have no normative knowledge of Jesus

except through the scriptures. We mentioned previously that Jesus Christ is our norm for

understanding our humanity— which fact is particularly relevant in the social sciences and the

humanities. In addition, Jesus Christ reveals to us the true nature of created existence as such—

which fact has implications for the natural sciences as well. It follows, therefore, that the

particular conceptual content of the Bible is relevant for the entire range of the disciplines in the

liberal arts.”

In order to understand creation and the heart of Jesus, we must read through a book that

was written and recorded. Franklin is illustrating to his readers that it is through academia that

we even have a knowledge of Christ. Therefore our professions are very much intertwined with

the gospel.
 Wheaton has provided me a shift in perspective of what the Liberal Arts is. The Christian

liberal arts is not just a program that allows for the uncertain christian to come and find their

profession but is a program that academically equips the young Christian towards further living

out the call of Jesus Christ in different professions. The Liberal arts assert that your calling can

be exercised in any occupation you are tied to. The theological foundations of the Christian

liberal arts engage the student to comprehend his or her own calling through the lens of both the

Christian and non- Christian. For example a future chemist who went to Wheaton College would

be so prepared to see to it that his role a chemist is not just as a chemist but as a chemist that

seeks to fight for justice as Christ did, A chemist who aims to equip others with biblical truth and

shower others with love, he or she should seek to be sacrificial and work to produce the absolute

best work they can, in an effort to honour God and not seek self-promotion or profit. The

Christian Liberal arts encourages excellence but excellence that will benefit the efforts of the

local community and international communities, not to live a lavish lifestyle.

Essentially to live well, is to seek to be the greatest worker of all time, so you may pour

your resources into benefitting the places around that are financially suffering. And if our

resources are not financial, God requires that we pour out talents and giftings in empowering our

communities around us so they may too experience the heart of Jesus Christ. We are called to be

world changers. As the spirit of God empowers us, we must empower the world.

I recently took a class named Global health that encouraged the empowerment of

desperate communities by first educating us on the ways that the world is suffering health wise.

Through this class I learnt that young girls in India are killed and gravley mistreated solely

because of their gender. The class gave me an alley through which to understand injustices that I

would not have otherwise, and through the lens of being the hand and feet of Jesus, my professor
encouraged us to come up with ways in which the church should or shouldn't address these

issues. If I didn't take this informative class, my eyes would not be opened to a whole culture of

abuse that has been normalized and to which I should respond. I recount this to communicate

that my non- major classes have been extremely beneficial in expanding my knowledge base of

the global community in ways I am certain a more pointed and specific education would not. I

am surely grateful for my Liberal Arts education and the foundation it has provided for me to

live as Christ demonstrates - not merely for the benefit of ourselves but the benefit of others.

Cassidy Keane

Essay #3

April 23, 2020

 The Wheaton College communication department has reconstructed my belief of

communication. Communication was simply a model of constructing effective speech from

individual to individual, through a particular medium. After more education, I recognize that I

was being taught the Shannon and Weaver model of communication which involves

communication as a systematic process of sending and receiving information successfully

despite the “noise”. Thankfully my communication degree has expanded my narrowed view of

communication. Communication is presently a discipline, a process, a medium of fighting for

justice, and an eye-opener to structural climates that both benefit and disadvantage communities.

Wheaton has ensured that communication, how I once knew it, is now reframed as a transaction

of information for the benefit of a larger community.

The rhetoric track has been a major blessing. I've had the opportunity to engage with

material that informed me on past and current happenings in the United States. To provide some

background, coming from Jamaica, I had little understanding of the historical framework in

which the United States has been built and I can confidently say that my Rhetoric classes have

been the source of learning about Politics in America, systemic oppression and social movements

that have been both successful and unsuccessful. As a result I have been informed of the ways in

which America has failed to be “land of opportunity” or the “promised land” that is expected by

the lesser developed countries.

I say all this to preface my hope to live a life that enables the oppressed rather than

support systems and structures that encourage oppression. My hope is to utilize the critical skills

obtained from Communication criticism, to be able to discern the ways in which people in power

manipulate their power for self ambition. My aim is then to put to action what I have learnt in

theory - I have been trained to think analytically when examining power structures that sabotage
equal opportunities. Additionally I choose to use my mouthpiece as a prophetic voice. Hoping to

unapologetically speak the unadulterated truth of the Word of God and be a mouthpiece for the

oppressed in society.

I've also learnt that the life lived of a prophet is never easy. You have to be prepared to

lose your life. For example, Martin Luther King was killed for his prophetic voice in the fight

for political rights of the African American community. According to an article illustrated on the

Presbyterian peace fellowship website, “Dr. King spoke boldly against the oppressive regimes

and intolerance that pervaded the United States in his day, and unfortunately, his words still

resonate today” (Galvin, 2019). As mentioned in my previous essay, I believe that wherever I

work or live, that I will be working with people. I truly enjoy speaking and processing with the

people around me. Therefore I am hoping that my ability to connect in depth with others will

give me room to awaken the minds of those around me who are not aware of the ways in which

American society has been built upon the pillars of oppression.

Of course all of this is easier said than done but is truly necessary for my role as an

educated, Christian, Jamaican woman to not let these disciplines I've gained waste away. Luke

12: 48 says, “To whom much is given, much is required” and I am a firm believer in being

mouthpieces for the Kingdom of God. In these untelling times, it is crucial for our education to

be used to bring change, even if it's at the cost of our lives. I believe it will take a radical

generation of youth to truly combat the darkness and heaviness that is infiltrating our world

today. I am convicted. I must be a beacon of light, and I am forever grateful for my Rhetoric

classes that have played a key role in equipping me to be a more discerning, analytical and

compassionate soldier for Christ. I will see to it that Christ's mission to bring salvation, to deliver

and to set free will be demonstrated through me.

 References

Betteke van Ruler (2018) Communication Theory: An Underrated Pillar on Which Strategic

Communication Rests, International Journal of Strategic Communication, 12:4, 367-381, DOI:

10.1080/1553118X.2018.1452240

Galvin, Christa (2019). “Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Prophetic Voice Rings Clear Still

Today” ,www.presbypeacefellowship.org/rev-martin-luther-king-jr-s-prophetic-voice-rings-

clear-still-today/.
 References

Franklin, Stephen T. "The Theological Foundations of the Christian Liberal Arts in Relation to

the Distinctives of the Christian Liberal Arts College/University." Christian Scholar's Review.

March 1995: 253-77.

Due April 28 (Tue), 5 pm (Draft Due for Peer Editing - Thursday April 16 during class session)

Essay #2: What is the contribution of a Christian liberal arts education to your fulfillment of your vocation?

Or, to phrase it in a slightly different way:

· How does a Christian liberal arts education contribute to living rightly (or living purposefully, or

living well)?

This essay should reflect knowledge of a liberal arts education (what is it, exactly?), so you ought not invent

your own idea of liberal arts but rely on a quality definition of liberal arts from a scholarly source(s).

Think very specifically about your curriculum. What specific classes provided resources to shape your sense of

calling? What specific classes didn’t seem to fit or work well to grow you? What about those classes was

constructive for your sense of calling?